And I would certainly stand to presume that, of course, Lynne has all of her fabric organized by color. I believe it is crucial to a high level of creativity and productivity!! And, no, my fabric is not really organized at all except in terms of the order in which it arrived in the house. ::sigh::

In it, he encourages us to look beyond white and cream and black as options for background colors in quilts. I believe John has met me before. In 20+ years of quilting, I believe I have used a cream background once. Recently. It was a small quilt. And it needed to look just like the pattern I was following. I often see quilts with cream backgrounds and say to myself, “I should do that sometime.” I don’t know, when push comes to shove and I’m actually making a fabric choice for a real-life project, the acid green always, always seems more appealing (please note the searing blog background…).

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I was folding these fat quarters at work just the other day and my heart went pitter-pat. Seriously, my pulse quickens when I see a really good color. AND, I will go one step further to say that I do indeed see these lovely colors as “neutrals.” They are the zing that can surround and showcase a collection of like-minded prints. To me, that’s when things get exciting — when you can find a background and print combo that makes you gasp and then squeal. It’s a regular thing for me when it comes to playing with fabric. Isn’t it for you?

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That’s why I think John’s book is so brilliant. I think it helps a quilter see other options and to find that inspiration right in the nature that (hopefully) surrounds us.

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Here are some of my favorites from the book:

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I love John’s Canyonlands quilt with its warm, rich tan background (sorry that it’s reading a little orange-y in my photo). It really makes the lighter prints sing. John’s inspiration was a video of a flock of starlings.

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Triton Cove uses a light aqua shot cotton as a background. I find shot cottons very thrilling because the warp and weft are two different colors. This adds so much interest and sparkle and depth. In this quilt, John cut into some of his most precious fabrics. I love his encouragement to cut into our favorite fabrics and USE them. I came face to face with my problem with fabric collecting when my basement flooded this summer. I looked at it this way, I got to visit all of the fabrics I’ve been collecting all these years. Let’s just say, I have too many favorites. My worry always is to, as Oprah might say, let the fabric live its best life. To select a design and background that seems to me to be the best possible use of a most loved fabric collection. And then I get stuck. For perhaps years on that choice and selection. So, I’ll use Triton Cove as my inspiration and John’s words of wisdom as encouragement. Also, I think this quilt design does indeed showcase these gorgeous prints.

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Glacier Bay is another favorite — because, hello, x and o in a single quilt. I love the cool mix of fabrics. I love the fabric placement. I think, in fact, this is one of my favorite ways to use fabric: select a group of prints you like and use them in all of the parts of the blocks — frames, centers, what have you. All of the prints are speaking to each other from each location in the quilt. Bliss! The pale aqua background is a real winner here. It sparkles as cornerstones, if you will, beside the darkest prints and makes the lighter prints recede to lovely effect.

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But, I think Pacific Crest is my absolute favorite! I can just see the waves. I’m also having a navy moment at the moment. My navy/indigo moment started two years ago when I bought a car that was almost black, but no, upon closer inspection, such a terrific shade of dark blue. I can’t get enough of it now. Before that car, navy and very little other blue was a part of my fabric stash. Now I think it enhances just about everything in a mysterious kind of way as it does in the Pacific Crest quilt. I mean, look how fabulous it looks by even the darkest prints in the quilt! Smashing!

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To be quite honest, when I was selecting some favorites to put in this post, every time I turned the page, I saw a favorite. As I said, John has written a very smart book with fantastic designs throughout. His insights and encouragement from natural inspiration are well worth adding to your book stack. I have kept the book in sight since I got it and have been flipping through and and dreaming and planning for a while. When time allows, fabric will be cut!

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Bravo, John!!! And thank you for including me in the celebration of your new book!!

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John’s publisher, Martingale, are generously providing an ebook of Beyond Neutral to one of my readers. Leave a comment, making sure there is a way to contact you, by the end of the day on September 26 and we’ll do ye olde random selection to choose a winner. Good luck!

Hello again! If you’re following along, you’ll know I have a Little Quilts book winner to announce and a new blog tour stop to mention.

It all comes down to Pam and Pam.

Pam from Quilting Is My Yoga is the winner of a copy of Little Quilts from my stop on the blog tour! Congratulations, Pam, look for an email in your inbox from me.

And this week’s stop on the blog tour is Pamkittymorning! Pam is my pretend neighbor. I take over pie and she always has the coffee on. We sit on the swing in her yard and read magazines and sew. She is an excellent neighbor. When she comes over, she always forgives the mess. Which is a lot of forgiving to do. Anyway, stop over at Pam’s. Tell her I said “hey.” You’ve got another chance to win a copy of Little Quilts too!!

By the way, did you see this about a Little Quilts swap??? Take a gander and say hi to Sarah, the hostess with the mostest!

It’s time for a little party for little quilts and Little Quilts! We are gleeful over the wonderful reception for our little (am I overusing that??) book so far, and we want the celebration to continue! Sarah and I have devised a blog tour and swap with some of our favorite people. Indeed, in the spirit of Little Quilts, we’ll make and swap wee (see, I didn’t say little) quilts and talk about our progress in blog posts. Our swappers don’t know from whom they’ll receive a quilt, so there will be mystery reveals when the mail arrives. Ooooh, tricksy, it was almost more than my summer brain could handle figuring that out (I know, it’s really not that difficult…).

I’ve already been pondering options for my swap partner. Hmm…

Which of these lovelies shall it be? Should I make one of mine?

Or should it be one of Sarah’s?

Who doesn’t love the Honeycomb quilt? Surely I can manage the embroidery, yes?!

As we all ponder and make, we’ll be checking in, so keep an eye out for our fabulous friends who have joined us. Here’s the Little Quilts visiting schedule for the next six weeks.

And befitting such a celebration, each stop will have a drawing for a copy of Little Quilts, courtesy of our spectacular publisher, Cico Books! So, if you’d like a chance to win a copy (what? you don’t already own one?) from this stop on the blog tour, leave a comment (making sure I can contact you via email behind the scenes) by the end of the day on September 7 — just before the tour stops off with the ever delightful Miss Pamkittymorning.

We hope you’ll join us in our continuing excitement about our book and have a visit with our lovely bloggers at each stop! I’ll check in regularly too to make sure you don’t miss any of the fun!

Well, hello! How goes it? What’s new? I have a little something new to show you. A fun little book that Sarah and I did. It just came out, and we’re pretty pleased.

One makes the quilts and writes and finishes such a thing well before it is actually printed and distributed, so when I got a copy in my hands, it was brand new to me again. What a treat! It is such a sweet little book to look at. I really do smile when I flip through the pages. But then again, I may be a little biased.

We hope you enjoy it! If your friendly neighborhood Amazon is sold out, I do have copies to sell for anyone stateside. I am happy to sign it. Unfortunately, logistics prevent my getting Sarah’s signature too for you, but you never know, you might run into her one day. Feel free to leave a comment if you would like to buy a copy.

My dear friend Sarah has written another book. Maybe you’ve heard of it — Hand Quilted with Love. I’ve horned in on her book blog tour to celebrate her talent and creativity, among her many other fine attributes.

I admit that I squeal every time I get to take a sneak peek into her latest work. Yes, I am lucky that way. So, she may have showed me some of the quilts from the book in advance. And I squealed like a little girl and once again decided that I wanted to make every quilt in the upcoming book. Seeing as I am still working on quilts from the last book….ahem…why not dive in and start a quilt from the new book too?! Frankly though, I see nothing wrong with that because, as the book’s subtitle says, “Patchwork projects inspired by a passion for quilting.” And who doesn’t get a little carried away by the passion for quilting? And I can feel Sarah’s passion for quilts in each of the designs in Hand Quilted with Love. And so I get carried away and squeal a little and decide that every one of the quilts speaks to me (and says “make me….”).

In the sewing room, you will find my copy of Hand Quilted with Love duly page marked on All That and the Hatter.

You will find a stack of light Kaffe Fassett shot cotton fat quarters and a stack of Liberty Lifestyle Stile fat quarters.

You will find me puttering around with background stripe combinations and cup and saucer combinations and teapot combinations.

You might also find me squealing like a little girl over the fun I’m having with Sarah’s lovely design. This one is VERY, VERY satisfying to undertake as well — put the thinking cap on on occasion, it’s a good thing.

Sarah’s new book also includes an incredibly special design. You might have seen it. Or been a part of it. Along with squealing, there was crying. Which is to be expected. Seeing it in print took my breath away. Not in a bad way. Just in the way that it is.

The version in the book is Anabel’s quilt.

At fall quilt market, I picked up my quilt. I have slept under it every night since Sarah presented it to me. In fact, she had it on the bed at the hotel. I am still overwhelmed by your kindness and generosity and caring for us. I thank you all from the bottom of my heart. Please know that not a day goes by when I don’t look at this quilt in amazement and appreciation. It is a great comfort to read your names and admire your fabric choices. Thank you.

In the future, I hope you will also find me making more of the quilts from Sarah’s wonderful new book. Congratulations, miss! I’m thrilled for you, I admire your talents and hard work and I’m so happy to call you a friend!

Since I have been away away away for so long, I’ll include some updates. I came back from quilt market in the fall to news of another serious health concern in my immediate family. It was jarring and once again scary and it set me back somewhat. But all is now well and we’ve been lucky to have had the best outcomes all the way along.

I have also been keeping up with the kid. Here are some recent action shots because it seems that she is all action and I am her personal assistant making sure she is where she needs to be and she is fed and garbed.